Russia's arms exporter denies involvement in Greece bribe scandal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia's state arms exporter denied Sunday, Jan 12, any involvement in a multi-million dollar corruption scandal in Greece related to arms sales that led to the arrest of a former top defense official, RIA Novosti reports.

A spokesperson for Rosoboronexport said the Russian arms exporter and the companies that merged to form it have no relation to the deliveries of Kornet-E anti-tank missiles and Osa surface-to-air missile systems to Greece that were mentioned in media reports.

The scandal came to light when Antonios Kantas, who was arrested and charged with graft last month, claimed that he received bribes from the representatives of arms manufacturers from Germany, Sweden and Russia to secure costly weapons deals in 1996-2002.

Two local representatives of German arms firms named by Kantas were also arrested.

The Greek Defense Ministry has pledged to overhaul arms procurement procedures to make them more transparent.